(JTA) -- New federal anti-bullying guidelines for U.S. educators will increase the protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a letter Tuesday that in effect applies Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the protection of Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campuses. Title VI prohibits discrimination based on "race, color or national origin" but does not include religion.

Under the Department of Education guidelines, the Civil Rights Act can be invoked if anti-Jewish behavior is considered to be based on shared ethnic characteristics.

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) introduced legislation last month that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964, whose Title VI prohibits discrimination based on "race, color, or national origin" to also include religion. The Zionist Organization of America also has led efforts to bring about legislative changes to Title VI, including lobbying members of Congress.

In a statement following the release of the guidelines, Sherman said that "The policy is now clear: colleges and universities will no longer be permitted to turn a blind eye when Jewish students face severe and persistent anti-Semitic hostility on their campuses. The schools will now be compelled to respond."

The Department of Education also announced that it would use Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect students with disabilities from harassment on campus.

...
A less well-known triumph of niche marketing is the Israeli propaganda effort directed at the gay community. The Israeli government has sponsored ads appearing in San Francisco's bus shelters extolling the IDF because it doesn't discriminate against gays, and a recent tour of Israel's gay hot spots promises a visit with hunky IDF soldiers. Pat Robertson and the advocates of gay liberation – together at last! ...

A "non-Jewish Shiksa" is now considered as a victim category in Toronto Police Service's latest hate crime study.

The Canadian Jewish Congress says the Toronto Police Service is pushing anti-hate law "to its most absurd level" by listing "non-Jewish Shiksa" as a victim category in its latest hate crime study.

The statistical report reveals that officers investigated hate crimes in Toronto last year against such unusual victim groups as teachers, feminists, infidels, police, Nazis and pedophiles.

But it is the redundantly named category of "non-Jewish Shiksa" -- a slur for a non-Jewish woman, from a Hebrew root meaning "a detested thing" -- that has especially baffled the CJC, a prominent advocate for stronger hate crime laws.

"You just can't apply it to literally everything," said CEO Bernie Farber.

The report, not yet released on the TPS website, shows an increase in "hate/bias occurrences" over the year before, from 153 to 174, with 23 charges laid.

Jewish, black, and LGBT were the top victim categories, but Tamils also registered, with six occurrences. By far the most common crime was mischief, usually graffiti, followed by assault and threatening.

The 2009 shiksa incident, classified as "mischief," happened in 53 Division, a central uptown area colloquially known among police as "Sleepy Hollow" because it includes the city's most pleasant residential communities, including some of the Jewish neighbourhoods around Bathurst and Lawrence.

It is not known whether a charge was laid, or a prosecution successful.

A letter of complaint to Alok Mukherjee, chairman of the Toronto Police Services Board, says the CJC is "frankly mystified," not just because "shiksa" is "sometimes used as a pejorative" and is therefore "inappropriate" for an official police category, but because hate crime sentencing provisions were meant to reflect not just simple membership in a group, but an "unchangeable" or "inescapable" aspect of the victim.

The letter also objects to the "police" category because police already enjoy special legal protection under the Criminal Code, and "Nazi" because political beliefs are not grounds for a hate crime. The letter does not mention feminists, teachers, infidels or pedophiles.

The Criminal Code allows for sentences to be increased if there is "evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor."

It is those last five words that give rise to the category controversy.

"While it is recognized that every individual has multiple aspects to their identity, more than one of which could be cause for an offender to target them, it is the practice of the [Toronto Police Service Hate Crime] Unit to classify a hate/ bias occurrence based on the best known information that exists relevant to the offender's perception of the victim," the report reads.

The term shiksa was given its full literary expression in Portnoy's Complaint, Phillip Roth's 1969 novel about adolescent sexual frustration, in which a Jewish protagonist agonizes over bad girls like Bubbles Girardi.

It has since become a common and mostly uncontroversial piece of slang. Charlotte, a Sex and the City character, is described by her Jewish boyfriend as a "shiksa goddess." Sharon Stone, after her sexual predator role in Basic Instinct, described herself as "the ultimate shiksa." And Jewish dating sites market themselves with the cheeky slogan "Shiksas are for practice."

I am not in favour of 'anti-hate' laws. Here in the US, the First Amendment to the US constitution provides for freedom of speech, but many liberals, including the recently approved Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan, who is Jewish, are apparently endeavouring to use 'anti-hate' ideas to undermine First Amendment rights. Something along the lines of 'you have the right to free speech so long as you don't preache 'hatred.'

Of course preaching Zionism, whereby a certain self-described "chosen people" acquire the "right" to disposses the Palestinians and then subjugate and devastate the entire Arab region just in order to preserve the "security" of that colony - all of that murder and mayhem is not considered 'hate.' But resistance to such murder and mayhem is most definitely considered "hate." And even "terrorism" or "support for terrorism" as the legal parlance now would have it.

It's an inversion of reality.

What's more, most activities that are described as "hate" crimes - assaults, killings, and the like, are already criminal activities and need no further qualification. There are plenty of instances of White on Black crimes that have been called "hate crimes" while instances of Black on White crimes are not so characterized. I still remember the days when public buses, cinemas, doctors' offices and the like were segregated and I find all racism utterly abhorrent. But 'anti-hate' prosecution seems to be highly arbitrary.

(5) University will no longer offer Helen Thomas diversity award - because of anti-Zionist remarks

Detroit Wayne State University said Friday it will no longer offer an award named in honor of one of its most famous alumni, former White House press corps member Helen Thomas.

The Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in the Media award has been retired because of controversial remarks Thomas, an Arab-American, made at a conference Thursday in Dearborn and earlier this year, school officials said.

Thomas said at a diversity conference that "Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question, in my opinion."

Her remarks have cast a shadow over the award, which was set up more than a decade ago to honor diversity and excellence in journalism, officials said.

"The controversy has brought a negative light to the award, which was never the intent of the award," said Matthew Seeger, interim dean of the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State.

Thomas, 90, resigned as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers in June after telling an interviewer that Jews should "get the hell out" of the Palestinian territories and go to Germany, Poland or the United States. She didn't back away from those remarks on Thursday but instead expounded on what she called the influence of Zionists worldwide.

Thomas could not be reached Friday.

Thomas' sister, Barbara Isaac, said they had expected WSU might eventually make such a decision, especially with this week's controversy.

"It boils down to more punishment for being honest and forthright," said Isaac. "She wanted to tell the truth. She's trying to get justice for the Palestinian people."

Wayne State is "showing its fear" of losing donors, Isaac said, adding that her sister was not referring to Jewish people when she used the word "Zionists" but to people who are "pro-Israel."

"All Jewish people are not Zionists," Isaac said.

But Jewish leaders applauded WSU's decision: "(We) applaud their courage in rescinding the award and distancing themselves from this blatantly anti-Semitic rhetoric that has no place in an academic institution," said Betsy Kellman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

AMSTERDAM – A hidden-camera video showing Jews being harassed on the street in a Moroccan neighborhood of Amsterdam has led Dutch authorities to consider combating hate crimes with "decoy Jews" — undercover police officers wearing yarmulkes.

Enthusiasm for the unusual idea is a sign of the ongoing tension between the Muslim minority and the rest of the Dutch population over issues of immigration and crime.

The idea of using "decoy Jews" to detect and arrest bigots has been embraced by both a prominent Moroccan politician and by Amsterdam's acting mayor, who is Jewish. Law enforcement officials say the idea is feasible but would only be of limited practical use due to entrapment concerns. ...

A senior Foreign Office civil servant was today facing the sack after being convicted of racially aggravated harassment.

Rowan Laxton, who heads the South Asia desk, launched an expletive-ridden tirade against Israel and Jews as he worked out at a London gym.

A court was told the 48-year-old shouted: "Fucking Israelis, fucking Jews" as he watched a television news report about the death of a Palestinian farmer.

His fellow gym members Gideon Falter and William Lemaine overheard him and complained to gym staff. Falter claimed he also heard Laxton say: "If I had my way, the fucking international community should be sent in and if the Israelis got in the way, they'd be blown off the fucking earth."

Lemaine said: "No-one really expects to hear those words being uttered and when you do, you take a note of it."

The incident, which happened during the conflict in Gaza last January, was described by Laxton's lawyer as a "moment of madness".

"It is a cliche, but it's a cliche that fits in this situation," Julian Knowles told Westminster magistrates court. "It was a moment of madness for Mr Laxton, which is going to have very grave and long-term consequences. The real punishment is yet to come."

Laxton, who earns £3,000 a month after tax, was suspended from his post after the outburst and could now be sacked. ...

Laxton was suspended from his job earlier this year, and a misconduct hearing is likely to start this week.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: ""The FCO takes very seriously any suggestion of inappropriate behaviour. The case will be considered under the misconduct procedure."

Britons never shall be slaves, claims the song. Never say never. They were so free that they could rhyme 'the queen', 'her fascist regime' and 'she ain't no human being', in the Sex Pistols song. But that was then, and anyway the queen has had enough sense of humour to invite the Pistols to the Palace. Now, a British gentleman Mr Rowan Laxton watched on TV live the Jews pour napalm and brimstone on hapless children of Gaza. Oh bloody Jews, said he, and I am sure so would you. He was immediately arrested and charged with "inciting religious hatred". Mr Laxton can be sentenced to seven years of jail.

Never mind that none of the Israeli top war criminals (Olmert, Barak, Livni) is religious. Multiple identities of Jews (class, race, religion, nation, state) are used to protect the lot from every side. I checked some blogs covering the story – right-wing bookworms are furious about Laxton. Incidentally, they do not mind to "incite religious hatred" and freely refer to "Muslim savages" and "Islam's demonstrable bloody-minded nihilism".

On the leftist sites Laxton is described as "racist", and whoever defends his Righteous anger is asked to move to White Power site. These antiracists also mention disapprovingly Laxton's marriage to a Muslim lady. Even his highly commendable wish to see the killer army going up in smoke is re-described as "desire to murder every Israeli teenager". Religious hatred laws are peculiar beasts.

While Jews murder Christians and Muslims, or destroy churches and mosques, these laws remain dormant. But if you notice the murders, the laws wake up from their slumber.

We reported a church in Migdal ha-Emek was vandalised by Jews. A Russian newspaper carried this report. A Jewish representative in Russia appealed to the attorney general against the newspaper: such a report "incites religious hatred". The attorney general rejected the Jewish claim, but have no doubt: this attack will make every newspaper in Russia think twice before they mention any misdeed or crime committed by Jews. And in this field, Russia is less inhibited than most.

Laxton had lost his important position in the Foreign Office, too, as his Jewish boss, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, is not as broad-minded as the queen. If Laxton would say of a Jew that "he ain't human being" he would be probably deported to Guantanamo. The very story of his arrest reminds us the horrors one is being told of 1930s. The man sits in the fitness room, he sees mass murder being broadcasted live on TV, he exclaims: bloody murderers; and his fellows call for NKVD or Gestapo. Not much of freedom is left for the once-proud Britons. They can't even vent their anger in the gym.

The Gaza pictures you could see on your telly were already sanitised; you were spared the real horrors. But what you did see was strong enough to break the taboo. The Jews are not satisfied with killing, they also want everybody to keep one's mouth shut about it. But it is not going to work. These prohibitions of speaking one's mind are demonstrably unfair.

Sure, not every Jew bombed Gaza. But not every German – hardly any German alive today – is connected to anything unseemly. Still, it is perfectly permissible to nourish "healthy, virile hate" for Germans, in words of Elie Wiesel. Jews have no problem to write (in Jerusalem Post): "the Norwegians were the ones who rounded up Jews and robbed them before shipping them off to Auschwitz." Somehow, nobody screamed: Wot! All Norwegians!? The SA Jewish Board of Deputies' David Saks did not mind to write: "the Palestinians are obsessed by - self willed prisoners of - the Islamist death cult".

But Palestinians are vilified by Jews on daily basis.

Americans routinely observe that the Swiss are a Nation Of Cowards, Tax Cheats, And Fugitive Financiers – and no hate law of Switzerland went into action.

They also propose to burn every Frenchman alive, and the French did not give a damn. If Mr Laxton would shout "Fuck Yanks!" - nobody would mind, not even the Yanks.

Usually, newspaper polemic is akin to épée fencing: one tries to keep the opponent at arm's length, avoid his thrusts and draw his blood. The thoughtful and friendly query of Haakon Kolmanskog deserves a quite different attitude and a most sincere reply. Haakon poses a question: We can't be indifferent if friends of the Palestinians are branded anti-Semites. Who will benefit in allowing the Zionists to have a free go playing the anti-Semite card against anyone who criticise them? The sad answer is that we have no means of stopping their playing it. For years, the friends of Palestine tried to evade the label by saying:

Israel behaves horribly, but it has nothing to do with the fact that it is defining itself as 'the Jewish state'. It has nothing to do with Jews elsewhere, and therefore criticism of Israel is not related to anti-Semitism.

But this easy answer was rejected by the Masters of Discourse. Friends of Palestine were forced into daily confessions of their love of Jews, as the suspected heretics of Middle Ages had been of their orthodoxy. Their protestations are without avail, for our opponents can effectively decide what is and what is not anti-Semitism. They can decide because they hold commanding heights in discourse: by virtue of media ownership, economic power and international connections integrated into one armoured fist. ...

While the time of Hamsun and Ehrenburg is over, Elie Wiesel is still very much with us. In his book, Legends of Our Time, this Jewish writer wrote: "Every Jew, somewhere in his being, should set apart a zone of hate -- healthy, virile hate -- for what the German personifies and for what persists in the German." Not "the Nazi", but "the German". For this sermon of hate he received the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize from the Norwegian Academy, in company with the Cambodia-destroyer Henry Kissinger and the Cana-murderer, Shimon Peres. Armed with this recognition of the Norwegians, Elie Wiesel called (at Christmas Eve!): War [with Iraq] is the only option"[1]. If you need to feel guilt, feel guilt for this Nobel Peace Prize.

This vast difference in the feelings of Norwegians towards their national genius Hamsun and towards Elie Wiesel the schmaltzy hate-monger leads us to a conclusion: in prevailing post-WWII mainstream discourse, the taboo on criticism of Jews has caused strong bias and undermined the humanist idea of the Equality of Man. Pre-war anti-Semitism has been superseded by another extreme, philo-Semitism, a belief that Jews can do no wrong and should never be referred to except in the most complimentary terms. This equally racist attitude has created severe misbalance in politics and discourse. It has to be corrected in order to save our planet and mankind from the triumphant "Semitism" of their definition.

(11) Fake universalism: Jewish anti Zionism is just the Left form of Zionism - Gilad Atzmon

I have spent the last ten years elaborating on Jewish national ideology and tribal politics. During my journey of grasping what Zionism and Israel stand for, I came to realize that it is actually the Jewish left -- and Jewish Marxists in particular -- that provide us with an adequate glimpse into contemporary Jewish identity, tribal supremacy, marginal politics and tribalism.

'Jewish left' is basically an oxymoron. It is a contradiction in terms, because 'Jewishness' is a tribal ideology, whilst 'the left' are traditionally understood as aspiring to universalism.

On the face of it, the 'Jewish left' is, at least categorically, no different from Israel or Zionism: after all, it is an attempt to form yet another 'Jews only political club'. And as far as the Palestinian solidarity movement is concerned, its role is subject to a growing debate -- For on the one hand, one can see the political benefit of pointing at a very few 'good Jews', and emphasizing that there are Jews who 'oppose Zionism as Jews'. Yet on the other hand, however, accepting the legitimacy of such a racially orientated political affair, is in itself, an acceptance of yet another form, or manifestation of Zionism, for Zionism claims that Jews are primarily Jewish, and had better operate politically as Jews(1).

To a certain extent then, it is clear that Jewish anti Zionism, is, in itself, still just another form of Zionism.

'Jewish dissidence' has two main roles: First, it attempts to depict and bolster a positive image of Jews in general (2). Second, it is there to silence and obscure any attempts on the part of the outsider to grasp the meaning of Jewish identity and Jewish politics within the machinations of the Jewish state. It is also there to stop elements in this movement from elaborating on the crucial role of Jewish lobbying.

The Jewish left is there then, to mute any possible criticism of Jewish politics within the wider Left movements. It is there to stop the Goyim from looking into Jewish affairs.

A decade ago I met the Kosher dissident brigade for the first time -- As soon as I started to express criticism of Israel and Zionism -- they started to bounce around me.

For a short while, I fitted nicely into their discourse: I was young and energetic. I was an award winning musician, as well as a promising writer. In their eyes I was a celebrity, or at least a good reason to celebrate. Their chief commissars reserved the best, and most expensive dining tables ahead of my Orient House's Ensemble concerts. The five grass-root penniless activists, followed the trend and came to my free stage Jazz Combo afternoon concerts in the Barbican Centre's Foyer. They all wanted to believe that I would follow their agenda, and become a commissar myself. They were also very quick to preach to me who were the 'bad guys', those who should be burnt in hell: Israel Shahak, Paul Eisen, Israel Shamir and Otto Weininger were just a few amongst the many baddies. As one may guess by now, it didn't take me too long to admit to myself that there was more wisdom in a single sentence by Eisen, Weininger, Shahak or Shamir than in the entire work of the Jewish left put together. I was quick to make it clear to my new 'Red' fans that it was not going to work: I was an ex-Israeli, and I no longer regarded myself as a Jew any more. I shared nothing with them and I did not believe in their agenda. Indeed, I had left Israel because I wanted to drift as far away as I could from any form of tribal politics.

Paddling in chicken soup has never been my thing.

Naturally, I bought myself at least a half a dozen enemies, and they were quick to run a campaign against me. They tried to silence me; they desperately ( and hopelessly ) tried to wreck my music career; they mounted pressure on political institutions, media outlets, and music venues. One of them even tried to drag me to court.

But they failed all the way through and they failed on every possible level. The more pressure they mounted, the more people read my writing. At a certain point, people around me were convinced that my detractors were actually running my PR campaign. Moreover, the relentless attempts to silence me could only prove my point. They were there to divert attention away from the crucial role of Jewish politics and Jewish identity politics.

I have asked myself often enough -- how is it that they failed with me? But I guess that the same internet that successfully defeated Israeli Hasbara, has also defeated the Jewish left and its hegemony within the movement. In the wider scheme of things, it is totally obvious how marginal the Jewish Marxist discourse is. Its voice within the dissident movement is, in actuality, insignificant.

I guess also, that the fact that I am a popular Jazz artist didn't make life easy for them -- At the time those Jewish commissars labeled me as a racist and an anti Semite, I was touring around the world with two ex Israeli Jews, an Argentinean Jew, a Romanian Gipsy and a Palestinian Oud player. It just couldn't work for them, and it didn't.

But here is an interesting twist: In comparison with the contemporaneous Jewish Red terror, Zionism comes across as a relatively tolerant endeavour. In recent months I have been approached by every possible Israeli media outlet. In the summer, Ouvda, the leading Israeli investigative TV show asked repeatedly to join with me and my band on the road. They were interested to launch a debate, and to discuss my ideas in prime time. This week, The Israeli Second Channel approached me for a news item. Again, they were interested in my views. Yesterday, I discussed my views for an hour with Guy Elhanan on Israel's 'Kol ha-shalom' (Voice of Peace).

For the most obvious of reasons, I am very cautious when dealing with the Israeli media. I choose my outlets very carefully. I usually tend to refuse. But, I also accept that as a person who cares about the prospect of peace I must keep an open channel with the Israeli public, and two weeks ago I agreed to be interviewed by Haaretz writer,Yaron Frid. This was my first published interview in Israel for more than a decade. I must admit that I was shocked to find out that not a single word of mine had been removed or censored. Haaretz let me say everything that the Kosher 'Socialists' had consistently tried to stop me from saying.

"I am not a nice Jew, because I don't want to be a Jew, because Jewish values don't really turn me on and all this 'Pour out Thy wrath on the nations' stuff doesn't impress me."

It also let me question the entire Zionist ethos; the reality of plunder and deluded historicism: "Why do I live on lands that are not mine, the plundered lands of another people whose owners want to return to them but cannot? Why do I send my children to kill and be killed, after I myself was a soldier, too? Why do I believe all this bullshit about 'because it's the land of our forefathers' and 'our patrimony' if I am not even religious?

And about Palestinians' right of return, I said:

"The Israelis can put an end to the conflict in two fucking minutes. Netanyahu gets up tomorrow morning, returns to the Palestinians the lands that belong to them."

They let me express how I would differentiate between, and define Israel and Palestine: "Palestine is the land and Israel is the state. It took me time to realize that Israel was never my home, but only a fantasy saturated in blood and sweat."

About chosen-ness, de-Judification and Jewish identity I said, "for Netanyahu and the Israelis to do that (accept the Palestinian right of return), they have to undergo de-Judaization and accept the fact that they are like all peoples and are not the chosen people. So, in my analysis this is not a political, sociopolitical or socioeconomic issue but something basic that has to do with Jewish identity."

And in the interview I compared Jewish left with National Socialism -- And Haaretz's editorial let it through: "The idea of left-wing Jews is fundamentally sickening. It contains an absolute internal contradiction. If you are leftists it doesn't matter whether you're Jewish or not, so on principle when you present yourselves as leftist Jews you are accepting the idea of national socialism. Nazism."

Haaretz, as could be expected, challenged my opposition to Jewish politics: "Atzmon has been accused from every possible platform of disseminating vitriol against Jews. He, though, maintains that he 'hates everyone in equal measure.' He's also been accused of self-hatred, but he is the first to admit this, and in comparison with Otto Weininger - the Austrian Jewish philosopher who converted to Christianity and of whom Hitler said, 'There was one good Jew in Germany, and he killed himself' - he is even proud. 'Otto and I are good friends.'"

But clearly, at least Israelis can cope with Otto Weininger and his ideology. However -- when I gave a talk about Otto Weininger in a London Marxist book shop five years ago (Bookmarks), a 'synagogue' of fourteen Jewish Marxists unsuccessfully tried to picket the event and to pressure the SWP into submission.

Guess what; they failed.

Haaretz challenged my take on the Holocaust; yet it printed my answer without changing a single word. "I am fighting against all the disgusting laws and persecutions of those so-called Holocaust deniers - a categorization I don't accept. I think the Holocaust, like any historical episode, must be open to research, to examination, to discussion and debate."

And Haaretz, evidently an Israeli Zionist paper, let me express my thoughts about Israeli mass murderers and their destiny. "It might be a good thing if the Nazi hunters hunt down [Shaul] Mofaz and [Ehud] Barak, for example, and not all kinds of 96-year-olds who are barely alive. It's pathetic."

It also let me tell Israelis that they are all to be blamed: "In Israel 94 percent of the nation supported Operation Cast Lead. On the one hand, you want to behave like a post-enlightenment state and talk to me about individualism, but on the other hand you surround yourselves with a wall and remain attached to a tribal identity."

The moral is clear: As much as Zionism is repugnant and murderous -- it is still way ahead of the Jewish left , simply because it is still, in some regards at least, part of an ongoing and open discourse.

Zionism was an attempt to bring about a new Jew: an ethical, productive and authentic being. But Zionism failed all the way through. Israel is a criminal state, and the Israelis are collectively complicit in relentless crimes against humanity. And yet, Zionism has also succeeded in erecting a solid school of eloquent and proud 'self haters'. Israelis are taught to be outspoken and critical. Unlike the Diaspora Jewish left, that for some reason, operates as a thought-police, Israeli dissidence speaks out. Israelis are trained to celebrate their 'symptoms' -- and this also applies in the case of dissidence.

Unlike Jewish Marxism that operates largely as a tribal PR campaign, Israeli dissidence is an ethical approach: You wouldn't hear Israeli activists shouting 'not in my name'. The Israelis mentioned above do accept that each Israeli crime is committed in their names. They also accept that activism is the crucial shift from guilt into responsibility. Hence, it is also far from surprising that on the 'Jewish Boat to Gaza' mission, the Israeli veteran AIF pilot Shapira and also Elahanan, both spoke about ethics and humanitarian issues, while the British Jew, Kuper, was apparently, judging from his words, perhaps more concerned with the amendment of the image of world Jewry.

Being an ex Israeli, I believe that the only thing I can do for Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, myself, my family, my neighbours and humanity -- is to stand firm and speak my heart against all odds.

I also believe that we all know the truth.

We just need to be courageous enough to spit it out.

(1) As bizarre as it may sound to some, 'Jews Against Zionists' (JAZ) and 'Jews for BDS' (Boycott of Divestment of Israeli Goods) do affirm the Zionist mantra: They operate, primarily, as Jews. As much as it is impossible for uprooted Palestinians to settle in Israel and become a citizen with equal civil rights -- it is also impossible for them to join any of the primarily Jewish groups for Palestine.

(2) Richard Kuper, the person behind 'Irene - the Jewish Boat to Gaza', was bold enough to admit it -- "Our goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians," he said. It is now an established fact that the Jewish boat carried hardly any humanitarian aid for the Gazans: its main mission, as far as Kuper was concerned, seems to have been to amend Jewish reputation.

Israeli press reported today that the wildfire, which has been raging in northern Israel since Thursday, continued to spread on Saturday morning, burning houses in the pastoral artists' village Ein Hod.

Ein Hod which lies on the road to Haifa is an Israeli artists' colony. It is located at the foot of Mount Carmel, overlooking the Mediterranean coast. In the fifties, a group of Jewish artists decided to make Ein Hod into their home. They built studios and workshops. Ein Hod is the only artists' village in Israel, one of the few in the world. Israel and Israelis are very proud of their artists’ colony. Israelis are totally devastated by the impact of the fire on their beloved artist village.

Yet, there is something Israelis may prefer to hide. Ein Hod’s new artistic habitants are far from being innocent. Ein Hod is in fact Ayn Aawd, a 1948 ethnically cleansed Palestinian village. Unlike very many other Palestinian villages Ayn Awad was not destroyed. Though its habitants were brutally expelled, most of the houses remained intact. The Israeli Artists, are basically a bunch of plunders. They also turned the village mosque into a restaurant/bar, the "Bonanza". It is obviously clear that the Israeli artist community participated actively in the Zionist crime.

Those few uprooted Palestinian villagers who survived the 1948 invasion built a new village near by, also called Ayn Hawd. Far from being surprising, the new village is not legally recognized by the Israeli government. It is denied all municipal services (including water, electricity, and roads). In the 1970s the Israeli government erected a fence around this new village in order to prevent it from expanding. As it happens, Israeli artists dwell in Palestinian homes while the dispossessed indigenous owners are living in poverty around the corner with no running water or electricity.

In the last six decades the JNF planted millions of pine trees around Israeli villages and towns. These newly planted forests were there to hide traces of Palestinian civilization and the 1948 Nakba. Ein Hod also surrounded itself with pine trees. It helped the Artists to concentrate on creative matters and to evade the misery in Ayn Hawd. It allows the artists to engage with ‘beauty’ and avoid the sin they are entangled with. Seemingly, the forest between Ein Hod and Ayn Hawd is now burned. Nature found its way to confront the Israelis with his and her past and present. Yet, I am far from being convinced whether the Israelis can be morally awaken to the disastrous reality they are complicit in.

Ein Hod is just a symbol of Israeli morbidity. It is a symbol of ethical blindness. But it is also a symptom of Israeli hopelessness.

In spite of its military might, its ‘technological superiority’, its air force, its nuclear capacity and AIPAC, Israel doesn’t know how to deal with fire. It fails to deal with the most banal domestic issues. Israel has been caught begging the world to come to its rescue. Zionism that was there to bring to life an authentic, self-sufficient, civilized and ethical Jew has failed all the way through.

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian-owned olive groves near the evacuated settlement of Homesh, near the West Bank city of Nablus Thursday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghasan Daghlas, who is charged with monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an: "The settlers set fire in the area of Khahlet Awana, adjacent to evacuated settlement."

He said Palestinians are banned from entering the area because of the presence of an Israeli military installation.

In an interview with Watan TV, Daik said 50 employees work at the department documenting settler attacks of Palestinian olive groves and farm land.

So far, the department is working on 18 cases and seeking 140 million shekels in compensation for Palestinian farmers, the minister said. Any new acts of aggression would be followed up in Israeli courts, he added.

The announcement follows a wave of violent attacks against Palestinians and their crops during the olive harvest.

In late October, Israeli rights group Yesh Din published a report which found Israeli authorities failed to prosecute Israeli settlers suspected of vandalizing Palestinian-owned trees.

Over 90 percent of investigations into offenses against Palestinians carried out by Israeli settlers in the West Bank failed, the group said.

On Tuesday, PA officials reported that settlers set fire to olive groves south of Nablus in Madama and Asira villages.

Radia Abu Sbaih, 47, lives with her sister and one niece on family land roughly 700 meters from the "green line" boundary between Israel and Gaza. Until 18 February 2010, they had nearly 600 olive, fruit, date and nut trees, an agricultural cistern, a water well, various vegetables and a house.

Theirs was one of three homes demolished by Israeli military bulldozers that day in al-Mossadar, eastern Gaza. Around 8am that morning, approximately five Israeli military bulldozers and upwards of 10 Israeli tanks, accompanied by more than 50 foot soldiers, invaded the farming region, according to locals. ...

"We were self-sufficient. Twenty people lived off this land. We had our own water source and we grew all our own vegetables: onions, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, beans ... " Nothing, save a stray sprig of green onion, remains.

Beyond the lean-to sun shade, a donkey stands next to the crushed remnants of his cart. ...

Abu Said returned to find the house that he had worked eight years to build completely flattened.

"We only lived in it one month," he says in disbelief.

He points out the wreckage of a chicken barn, home to 1,000 chickens, the stubs of olive, date and lemon trees.

Like most in the border region, this is not the first time Abu Said's land has been razed.

"Ten years ago they bulldozed everything, but we replanted. Now it's all gone again." ...

Five dunams of olive and date trees were mowed, along with 150 pigeons and a donkey.

"[The donkey] was in a concrete shelter when the bulldozers attacked," he explains, pointing out the carcass in the treeless field. ...

Palestinian farmers from Yatta village south of Hebron in the West Bank have revealed that the Israeli military continues to bury nuclear waste in their farmlands at Al-Masafer near the armistice line in the West Bank. The farmers said that the military forces "IDF" brings trucks loaded with waste suspected to be radioactive waste and is burying it in their lands after they force them to evacuate the area.

The farmers said that they were able to hide themselves in some caves and watch the military operation. They stated that the Israeli soldiers who declared the area as a military zone were wearing white overalls over their military uniforms during the burial. The farmers said that they live in Al-Masafer with their animals. ...

Alert: Thousands of police evacuating and demolishing the village of El-Araqib in the Israeli Negev
Thousands of police are in the village of el-Araqib right now – beginning a mass evacuation, demolition, and erasure of this historical Bedouin village. if you have access to the media, please send them to this village as soon as possible! the village of el-Araqib is between Rahat and Beer Sheva, and in a location that the Goldberg commission deemed outside of the areas allowed for the Negev Arabs… an area designated only for Jews… the JNF (Jewish National Fund) is planting a forest on this village lands – to make sure that the Bedouin cannot live on their village lands or use them for agriculture. the villagers turned to the israeli courts, as the JNF were planting this forest at the bequest of the Israeli government, but against Israeli law… the people of el-Araqib won the court battle… but this morning it seems that the Government of Israel has started a war — of the Government against its own citizens. for more information: Dr. Yeela Raanan, Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages (RCUV). +972 54 7487005 yallylivnat@gmail.com.

(19) Police destroy dozens of buildings in unrecognized Bedouin village in Negev

Juma al-Turi and his family sat for hours yesterday looking with disbelief at the ruins of their unrecognized village of al-Arakib, north of Be'er Sheva. The houses, the storage building and the bird cage were all destroyed, and the olive trees uprooted.

The village was destroyed after government officials determined it was built illegally on state land. Israel Police forces destroyed about 35 buildings, said residents. Confrontations broke out between the police and residents, and in the end one woman was arrested and six people were detained. Over 1,500 police came to guard the demolition.

What really bothered al-Turi, though, was the degradation etched in his heart.

"I saw the smiles of the policemen and the inspectors who did it, they simply enjoyed it while the children were left without a home. They made victory signs with their hands after the destruction. It seems they were confused and were certain they were in Lebanon in the war against Hezbollah," he said. ...

On August 28, 2010, the war between Bedouins and the Israeli Administration reached again the headlines, though no deaths were reported this time. This is a recurring item in the Hebrew news at least from the days of the First Intifada, and it would not be solved anytime soon. In fact it may even lead to interesting developments in the nearby future.

The problem is simple. Over 60% of Israel is within the Negev Desert. Nomad Bedouins inhabit the area for thousands of years; in fact this is part of the historical Silk Road, and they ancestors were traders along it. Since the mid 19th century there is a slow process of settling down among them; In the 1950s, the IDF began limiting the Bedouins freedom, attempting to concentrate them in certain areas. Since the 1970s, the Israeli Administration began creating Bedouin towns, Rahat being the largest one. Nowadays there are roughly fifty Bedouin settlements in the Negev with a total of some two hundred thousand inhabitants, roughly half of them in recognized towns and villages, and the others in unrecognized ones.

The difference between these two categories is vast. Recognized towns and villages get infrastructure and services from the state, while unrecognized settlements get nothing. In exchange for recognition, the Israeli Administration often asks for relocation and for proper verification of ownership. "What's the problem?" some readers may ask at this moment. Well, Israel decided to work according to the Ottoman Empire law here, demanding from the Bedouins Ottoman "Kushan" ownership papers. Not one Bedouin has such documents. The result is violent frictions each time the illegitimate Israeli Administration attempts to regularize the situation of a given tribe. This is to the extent that "Bedouin Intifada" is not a new concept.

The situation of the Bedouins in Israel is complex. They are citizens and as such they may volunteer to the IDF. In The Cross of Bethlehem I explained that in further detail; Israel defines the rights and debts of a citizen toward the state according to his – or her – ethnic group. Many Bedouins volunteer, but then – unlike the Druze – they are kept within one unit. The unit is called the Desert Rangers Battalion (Gdud Siur Midbari) which is part of the Givati Infantry Brigade. Often called the "Minorities Unit," it includes also Circassian and even a few Palestinian soldiers. All of them must volunteer to the IDF. These soldiers serve mainly as trackers and pathfinders, and often are attached ad hoc to other military units. The point is that they are heavily monitored and kept away from strategic units and issues. They are not trusted. ...

(21) Israeli police use dogs to attack Palestinians before demolishing their houses

The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights in Jerusalem (JCSER) reported that Israeli policemen used dogs during their Tuesday attack against Palestinian homeowners as the police attacked their homes before demolishing them earlier in the day in Al Esawiyya, in occupied East Jerusalem.

The Research and Documentation Unit of the JCSER reported that resident Mohammad Robin, an owner of a print house that was demolished Tuesday was attacked by dogs unleashed by the police while he was trying to get his father and equipment from the print house.

The dogs attacked and bit the two while the police used pepper spray against them before beating the wife of Mohammad. The police also fired gas bombs during the attack.

The center said that the police used excessive force against the residents who protested the attack. Policemen also broke into a number of homes.

The Jerusalem municipality also demolished two rooms built using wood and bricks, and also demolished a home in Sheikh Jarrah after violently breaking into it and forcing the resident out.

The police also fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets at residents protesting in the area

The center slammed the excessive use of force against the residents who became homeless due to an illegal policy.

Also on Tuesday, the police demolished a home that belongs to the family of Nour Sub Laban, in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem.

The family was not at home when the police broke into it and demolished it without waiting for the owners to return and evacuate their furniture and belongings.

The Jerusalem Municipality claimed that its workers recently placed the demolish order on the main door of the home.

Furthermore, a warehouse was demolished in Shu’fat town, north of Jerusalem, and the police handed an order against a five-story home in Ras Khamis, in occupied East Jerusalem.

(22) A nine-year-old boy is beaten by five settlers in the Old City of Jerusalem

On 14 August 2010, a nine-year-old boy is beaten by five settlers in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Anas lives in the as-Saraya neighbourhood, in the Old City of Jerusalem. Last August, during Ramadan, Anas and his younger sister, Bara' (8 years) were invited for an evening meal at their uncle's house who lives nearby. 'It was around 6:30pm,' recalls Anas, 'my sister had already gone to my uncle's house and I was getting ready to follow her. As I walked out of the house I saw five settlers. They were orthodox Jews. They were wearing black jackets and trousers and had long ringlets in their hair,' says Anas, 'they were old; around 30 or 40. No one else was in the street, just me and them.'

Anas started walking to his uncle's house and 'didn't pay much attention to the settlers. I had barely walked 20 metres when I felt something hitting me on the head. I felt extreme pain and put my hand on my head and started shouting.' The five settlers then approached Anas holding wooden sticks in their hands. 'They hit me twice on the head with the sticks which knocked me over. Then they beat me on my back, hitting me five times with their sticks. I was screaming and crying, and tried to protect my head with my hands,' says Anas. 'The five settlers kicked me in the back, stomach and legs. Then they took off my flip-flops and one of them started beating the soles of my feet with a stick and I still have the marks to this day.1 Then they left me alone and ran away.' After the beating, Anas felt dizzy and thought he was going to vomit. 'I was still fasting and was hungry and thirsty, but I couldn't walk to my uncle's house. I went back home and kept crying because no one was in the house. Alone, I waited for my parents to come home.'

Anas's mother took him to see a doctor the next morning and he was examined and given some prescription medicines before returning home. 'We have many settlers in the neighbourhood,' says Anas, 'and they know how to scare little children. But we have got used to them and I still go out and play.' ...

In two separate stories, my [fellow Jewish] landsmen are making obstetrical recommendations in order to prevent population growth in "undesirable" groups living in Israel. In the first video, there is a story about Israeli authorities heavily promoting birth control to pregnant Ethiopian (i.e., Black, i.e., "schvartze") Jewish refugees. In the second video, Harvard Professor Martin Kramer (NO relation!!!) is pushing to end post-natal subsidies to Palestinian refugees in order to cut down on the future "terrorist" population.

DAMASCUS, Syria – Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that Palestinians are "living in a cage" in Gaza and that the militant group Hamas must be included in all major efforts for peace.

Carter was in Syria with an international group of veteran statesmen known as the Elders, which includes Ireland's former President Mary Robinson.

"We believe that Hamas should be included in all the major efforts to peace ... It is part of the Palestinian people," Carter said. He added that "1.5 million Palestinians are held in a cage or prison while their human rights are taken away." ..

(25) Chabad Rabbis: Don't Sell Land to non-Jews

In a joint letter with many of Israel's northern leading rabbinic authorities, Rabbis Yosef Yitzchak Wilshansky and Mordechai Bistritzky wrote harshly against the sale or renting of land in Israel to a non-Jew. Full report, Letter

About Me

'Mission statement'.
I am convinced that jewish individuals and groups have an enormous influence on the world. The MSM are, for almost all people, the only source of information, and these are largely controlled by jewish people.
So there is a huge under-reporting on jewish influence in the world.
I see it as my mission to try to close this gap. To quote Henry Ford: "Corral the 50 wealthiest jews and there will be no wars." `(Thomas Friedman wrote the same in Haaretz, about the war against Iraq! See yellow marked area, blog 573)
If that is true, my mission must be very beneficial to humanity.